Márquez : « Ma jambe va beaucoup mieux qu’au Qatar »

Marc Márquez a survolé la première journée du Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas et a reconnu qu’il se sentait bien mieux physiquement qu’à Losail, où il était encore gêné par sa fracture du péroné.

Après avoir remporté sa première victoire en MotoGP™ à Austin l’an dernier, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a repris exactement là où il s’était arrêté aujourd’hui pour l’ouverture de l’édition 2014 du Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas et a simplement été intouchable.

Le Champion du Monde en titre avait déjà largement distancé ses concurrents le matin mais a gagné plus d’une seconde l’après-midi et fini avec une bonne seconde d’avance sur Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

« Cette première journée d’essais à Austin s’est vraiment bien passée, » a affirmé Márquez. « Je suis content de mon chrono mais aussi d’avoir une seconde d’avance sur le pilote qui est derrière moi. » 

« Le plus important pour moi est cependant que ma jambe aille bien, bien mieux qu’au Qatar. La blessure me gênait un peu mais j’ai pu participer aux deux séances sans avoir recours aux antidouleurs. Maintenant je dois juste attendre demain pour voir si ça ira toujours aussi bien ou non. Nous savons que nous avons un avantage et nous allons essayer de le gérer mais je sais aussi que les autres pilotes vont continuer à progresser. »

Malgré un écart important avec son coéquipier, Pedrosa était plutôt satisfait de sa journée et a déclaré : « Nous avons bien travaillé avec les pneus aujourd’hui. Nous avons essayé la gomme dure et ça s’est plutôt bien passé. Nous ne sommes pas allés très vite mais j’avais un bon feeling et je pense que nous pourrons faire un bon pas en avant demain et progresser de manière significative en faisant quelques petits ajustements. La journée a été positive. »

Honda CB400N ‘Brigante’ by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

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If your life ever takes a turn for the worst and you decide to fund your insatiable thirst for custom motorcycles by joining a gang that pillages and plunders, there’s a few things you should remember. Firstly, you’ll need to be nimble and light on your feet lest you be caught in the act. Next, you’ll need a nice little secret compartment to stash your ill-gotten gains should the law come a-knocking at a bad time. And finally, you’d best arm yourself with a gun or pistol should the worst come to the worst. Which brings us to today’s build, a bike that fits this bill perfectly and not by coincidence, either. Introducing the latest build from Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche with their very aptly named ‘Brigante’ or ‘Bandit’.

“The Bandit follows our philosophy perfectly: to build a special bike re-using other old bike pieces to give them new life and a new dignity”, explains Leo, Dopz and Schizzo from EEM. “The donor bike was a Honda CB400N. We worked on the idea of doing a very short bike, not really a bobber but something shorter and a little different. The real key to the whole build was our decision to use an old Piaggio ‘Ciao’ moped seat.”

“Next we shortened, reinforced and cleaned up the rear frame, changed the rear shocks and mounted two reworked blinkers inside the rear frame to make them seem fully integrated and to leave the seat as clean as possible.”

“We definitely do not like the trend of leaving the space under the seat empty, so we had some fun reworking an old Kawasaki filter to hide the battery and fuses… and fill the space, too. Naturally, we simplified the wires while we were at it and hid them inside the frame.”

“On the opposite side to the battery we mounted and old flask. It has a clip on the bike-side that allows you to open it up and use it for storage. Tools, keys, loot – whatever you want.

The tank is from an old Gilera, which we reworked to fit the frame. The ‘machine gun’ muffler is from a Triumph scrambler which we then cut, built a 2-into-2 under the brake pedal and left its nice internal metal padding visible.”

“We reworked the Piaggio Ciao seat and covered it with leather; the same leather we used to hold down the tank.”

“The colour scheme was mainly influenced by our decision to follow the original gold rim colour and the old colours on the Gilera tank. There’s a small yellow LED headlight that’s been installed upside down, new brake reservoirs, navy brake cables, bespoke EEM aluminium footplates, flat ‘bars like a bobber, a handmade bronzed mudguard, new shock absorber… and that’s just the big things.”

RAD N°12 : en kiosque !

Le douzième numéro de RAD est sorti, toujours plein de belles motos qui roulent vraiment, voici le sommaire en image.

KAWASAKI CAFE RACER BY AC SANCTUARY

The economics of the custom business in Japan are very different to what we usually see in the west. Most of the top builders have a loose formula that they’ve constantly refined over the years, using a small number of high-quality parts suppliers. It means they’re not reinventing the wheel with every build; they know what works and what doesn’t.

AC Sanctuary is one of the best-known examples of this approach. The company has built dozens of Kawasaki café racers—“resto-mods,” if you like—and now has several stores scattered around the country. It’s verging on small-scale production, like a boutique supercar manufacturer.

This is one of the latest builds in Sanctuary’s ‘RCM’ (Real Complete Machine) series, based on a Z1. But although RCM-283 is instantly recognizable as a vintage Zed, it’s dynamically a huge leap forward.

The frame has been completely stripped back and braced for maximum strength before refinishing. The engine has been blueprinted and balanced, and fitted with Mikuni TMR36 carburetion and a heavy-duty police-spec clutch. To cope with the extra power output, a 9-inch Earl’s cooler has been fitted.

The bought-in parts are top-shelf quality. Nitro Racing has supplied the exhaust system (with titanium muffler), a hydraulic clutch kit, plus a new seat and bodywork. Other parts come from Sculpture, a brand not so well known outside Japan. They’ve helped to tighten up the handling with custom triple trees and a new swingarm, complete with a hook for a paddock stand.

When it comes to the handling, the names are more familiar. The suspension is Öhlins all round and the wheels are 17” OZ Racing Piegas, originally designed for the ZXR1200. (They’re 3.5” wide at the front and 5.5” at the back and shod with Pirelli Diablo tires.) The brakes are a mix of Nissin, Sunstar and Brembo components.

Sanctuary’s real skill is not just in picking the parts that work, but making them look part of a coherent whole. And unlike most café racers, this one looks like it could have rolled off the Kawasaki production line. The finish is top-notch and the paint is subtle.

That’s why well-heeled enthusiasts are buying Sanctuary bikes as fast as the company can make them. Considering they cost around $40,000, that’s no mean feat. If you had the funds, would you put one in your garage?

Browse our coverage of previous AC Sanctuary builds here.

via BIKEEXIF